Corporate interests dominate EU data law working group

The European Commission’s Expert Groups, which play a vital role in shaping EU policies and legislation, are dominated by corporate interests, according to a report released yesterday.

The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (Alter-EU), a coalition of 200 civil society groups, trade unions, academics and public affairs firms, examined the make up of all new Expert Groups established since September 2012.

Expert Groups are advisory bodies that are supposed to provide input from all stakeholders in areas where the Commission lacks internal expertise, but the Alter-EU examination found that overall, 52% of seats were taken by representatives of big business, compared to 3% for small businesses (with fewer than 250 employees) and 3% for trade unions.

Alter-EU’s calculations exclude representatives of governments and focus entirely on places given to non-government stakeholders.

SOURCE: cio.co.uk